Respond to these rapid questions in our Peter Rabbit quiz and we will tell you which Peter Rabbit character you are. Play it now.
Much earlier than Bugs Bunny tormented Elmer Fudd in cartoon shorts, British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter created Peter Rabbit, who is widely considered to be the gold standard of naughty anthropomorphic carrot crunchers. By stealing the produce from Mr. McGregor’s garden patch, Peter, dressed dapperly in an Edwardian blue jacket and brown slippers, put his own life and limb at risk for the greater good. His adventure was the first in a series of 23 slim volumes of children’s fables about the secret lives of woodland inhabitants, which included characters such as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, the washerwoman hedgehog, and Mr. Jeremy Fisher, a gentlemanly frog, among others.
It is no surprise that “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” which was first published in 1902, continues to be popular bedtime reading material, not least because our brash hero is punished for his misbehavior in the story. And Potter’s writing, as well as her delicately nuanced watercolor portraits of her characters, continue to inspire a great deal of admiration. That could explain the initial outcry over the trailers for Sony’s 3-D animated “Peter Rabbit,” which featured live-action actors interacting with digital creatures in a crasser and cruder present-day setting than the film’s original setting. When Peter (voiced by James Corden, attempting valiantly to put the hip in his hop) and a menagerie plucked from Potter’s own pages are shown as rowdy vandals who turn McGregor’s country manor in the scenic Lake District into an actual animal house—trashing the place, employing hedgehogs as darts, and twerking their fuzzy tails—reactions ranged from queasily aghast to utterly revolted
At least for the first 10 minutes or so, this adaptation directed by Will Gluck (“Easy A,” the best-forgotten “Annie” remake) and written with Rob Lieber (“Alexander and the Terrible Horrible, Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day”) is fairly faithful to the original material. After all, the book is only a few hundred pages long. Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail (speech by Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, and Daisy Ridley—not that you can tell), along with their chubby cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody), are recruited by the now-orphaned Peter to help him stage a major heist in this padded version of the story. McGregor (Sam Neill, barely recognizable behind a bushy gray beard and extra body padding) is initially oblivious—that is, until he turns off his loud lawn mower, which alerts the authorities. However, just as it appears that he has cornered his prey, the gardener collapses and dies unexpectedly. Given his struggles to protect his abundant crops, it appears that the rake-wielding hot-head was also a junk food junkie—oh, the irony of it all!
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this Peter Rabbit quiz.
That doesn’t happen in the book, and neither does what happens after that either. However, it allows for the development of an unusual mixed-species rivalry with echoes of “Rushmore” over the affections of neighbor Bea (Rose Byrne, adding welcome honey to this English brew but under-utilized). She is sympathetic to the rabbits’ plight and has a strong desire to paint them in their natural habitat, which she does quite frequently. However, Peter will soon have to compete with Thomas McGregor, McGregor’s great-nephew, who is an uptight Londoner with control issues who has inherited the house from his grandfather. When I first learned that Domhnall Gleeson would be starring in this, I was a little concerned. My guilt over ever liking Winnie-the-Pooh after reading “Goodbye Christopher Robin” stemmed from witnessing A.A. Milne exploiting his son for the rest of his life. However, despite sharing his uncle’s deep-rooted disdain for wildlife, which he keeps hidden from Bea, it is Thomas who we begin to feel sorry for as the increasingly belligerent Peter transforms from likably cheeky chap to sneering sadist as he attempts to torture his enemy by repurposing McGregor’s animal traps, electric security devices, and explosives as weapons of ever-escalating destruction in the style of “Home Alone,” as seen in
Peter Rabbit Quiz
Aside from the quaint production values that are of high quality, the animated likenesses of Peter and his pals are convincing. However, while some pandering to 21st-century sensibilities is to be expected, Gluck and Lieber significantly degrade the experience by incorporating a slew of mediocre pop references (“That’ll do pig— that’ll do” from “Babe,” the slo-mo group gangster stroll from “Reservoir Dogs,” songbirds who rap, launching tomatoes like hand grenades while leaping across the screen sideways, Bayhem- They also enjoy some of their jokes so much that they feel compelled to tell them again and again. Every morning, there’s this one cock-a-doodle loon of a rooster who is perpetually amazed that another day has dawned on the planet. On a couple of occasions, Peter criticizes Benjamin’s brown jacket for being “too matchy-matchy” with his own same-hued fur, which Benjamin finds offensive. After that, there’s an old favorite (a deer frozen in its tracks while staring blankly into headlights), which is also considered worthy of being included in a double feature.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Peter Rabbit quiz.
It is true that many of the young children in the audience were giggling hysterically at the slapstick antics of the actors. And, yes, Peter eventually does the right thing and reconciles himself with the rest of the world. Clearly, there is a severe case of “Paddington” envy in this room, as well as a desire to see yet another animated series. Genuine charm, on the other hand, cannot be replaced by easy chuckles. The only thing I’m relieved about is that Corden didn’t insist on singing in the rabbit burrow.
For more personality quizzes check this: Peter Rabbit Quiz.
